STACK 
ANNEX 


California 
gional 


iN/\NCY    COX-MCCORMACK 


NANCY  C.  M'CORMACK, 
CHICAGO  SCULPTRESS, 
WINS  FAME  IN  ROME 


[Chicago  Tribune  Foreign  News  S«rrice.] 

ROME,  June  17. — [Tribune  Radio.] — 
A  Chicago  artist   has  achieved   great 
success  in  Rome, 
A   bust    of   Gisco- 
rao  Boni,  author- 
ity on  history,  art 
and  archaeology, 
made  by  a  Chica 
go    s  c  u  I  p  t  r  CSP 
%'ancy     Cox     Mc- 
Cormack, is  being 
admired    by    the 
city  of  Rome  and 
will  be   placed   in 
the    Capitoline 
muse  um  in    thr-  '•. 
hall  of  illustrious  j 
men.     She  is  the  j 
first  American  j 

artist  to  climb  the  *— — — 

"  sacred  "  steps  of  NANCY  COX 

the   Capitoline          McCOEMACK. 
museum.     The  bust  now  is  being  ex- 
hibited in  the  national  exhibition  at 
Naples. 

Mrs.  McCormack  is  the  object  of 
great  admiration  by  Italian  and  for- 
eign artistic  circles  in  Rome.  The 
success  attained  in  her  three  months' 
stay  in  Italy  has  induced  Premier  Mus- 
solini to  pose  for  her.  It  just  has  been 
learned  that  the  Facist  premier  al- 
lowed her  to  make  a  little  studio  in  his 
own  residence  for  the  execution  of  h'.s 
bust.  He  poses  whenever  he  can  spare 
a  little  time. 

Friends  of  Mrs.  McCormack  affirm 
that  before  returning  to  Chicago  she 
will  make  a  bust  of  Pope  Pius  and 
some  other  Italian  personalities,  but 
no  statement  could  be  obtained  from 
the  artist  confirming  or  denying  the 
assertion. 


p 


THE  REALLY    TRULY 
SUNSHINE     FAIRY 


CX-^ 


f 


•• 


THE   REALLY    TRULY 
SUNSHINE     FAIRY 

by 

NANCY    COX-MC  COR  MACK 

Illustrations     hy 

KATHARINE    STLIRGES    DODGE 


PUBLISHED  BY 

P.F.VOLLAND    COMPANY 

NEW  YORK      CHICAGO        TORONTO 


Copyrighted  1918 

P.  F.  Volland  Company 

Chicago,  U.  S.  A. 

(All  Rights  Reserved) 


TO  ALL  CHILDREN— 
THE  MAKERS  OF  SUNSHINE 


2056274 


Aunt  Nancy  will  tell  you  a  story,  dears, 
How  Peeps  the  sunshine  sprite  appears, 
And  how  she  brought  the  sunshine  gay 
To  Betty  and  to  John  one  day. 


The  thunder  rumbled  and  grumbled  and  growled, 
The  wind-storm  roared,  hallooed  and  howled, 
As  John  and  Betty  stood  wishing  that  day 
For  Peeps  to  drive  the  clouds  away. 


PEEPS 

ONCE  upon  a  time,  a  long  time  ago,  a  little 
girl  named  Betty  and  a  little  boy  named 
John  stood  at  the  window  of  their  play  room, 
looking  out  at  the  rain. 

Patter,  patter,  patter,  came  the  rain.  Then 
great  flashes  of  fire  streaked  the  sky,  and  then 
came  the  boom,  boom,  boom  !  of  the  thunder. 

My,  how  it  rattled  all  the  windows  and  how 
it  rumbled  and  grumbled  and  growled  up  in  the 
heavens  like  a  great  big  angry  bear. 


"I  wish  the  rain  would  go  away,"  said  John. 

"And  I  wish  we  could  go  out  and  play,"  added 
Betty. 

"And  I  wish,"  said  their  mother,  who  was 
sewing  in  the  play  room,  "that  Peeps  would 


come.' 


"Peeps,"  said  Betty  quickly,"Who  is  Peeps?" 

"Who  is  Peeps?"  repeated  John. 

"Oh,  Peeps  is  a  fairy,  the  'really  truly'  sun- 
shine fairy,"  said  Mother  slowly,  as  though  the 
children  knew  all  about  Peeps. 

Both  children  ran  to  their  mother. 

"Tell  us!  Tell  us,"  said  Betty.  "Who  is 
Peeps?" 

"Yes,  who  is  Peeps?"  insisted  John. 

"Well,"  began  Mother,  "You  know  of  the 
little  wood  fairies  that  live  in  trees.' 


When  the  forests  are  shady  and  all  is  dark 
The  wood  fairies  gather  to  hold  a  lark 
In  hollows  deep  where  none  can  see 
And  all  night  long  they  dance  in  glee. 
(But  Peeps  is  not  this  kind  of  fairy) 


"Yes,  yes,"  said  Betty. 

"Well,  Peeps  is  not  one  of  these,"  Mother 
continued. 

"And  you  know  of  the  little  cave  fairies  who 
live  down  deep  in  caves,  and  who  come  up  to 
earth  but  once  a  year." 

"Oh,"  said  John,  "I  know  of  the  cave  fairies." 

"Well,  Peeps  is  not  one  of  these,  either," 
Mother  answered. 

"Well,  then,  who  is  Peeps,  Mother?"  Both 
children  asked  that  question  at  the  same  time. 

"Peeps  is  the  really  truly  sunshine  fairy," 
said  Mother,  in  her  quiet  voice,  "But  I  don't 
know  how  she  looks,  because  I  have  never  seen 
her,  but  when  I  was  a  little  girl  my  mother  told 
me  that  Peeps  lives  high  up  above  the  clouds 
and  brings  sunshine  to  the  earth.  And,  like  all 


The  little  gnomes  of  jewel-land 
Dig  up  the  gold  from  diamond  sand, 
And  crystals  bright  above  them  sway 
To  make  their  palace  light  as  day. 

(But  Peeps  is  not  this  kind  of  fairy  either) 


fairies,  if  you  believe  in  her  and  wish  to  see  her 
very  much,  she  may  come  sometime  to  play 
with  you." 

"Oh,  I  wish  Peeps  would  come,"  said  Betty. 

"And  I  wish  she  would  come,"  said  John. 

Now  while  they  were  wishing  and  wishing 
and  wishing  for  Peeps,  the  really  truly  sunshine 
fairy,  to  come  down  and  play  with  them,  sure 
enough  there  was  a  sunshine  fairy  away  up  above 
the  clouds  who  was  named  Peeps. 

And  what  do  you  think  Peeps  was  doing  just 
then?  Peeps  was  sliding  down  a  sunbeam  away, 
away  up  in  the  sky  on  the  other  side  of  the  dark 
clouds.  And  she  was  having  a  very  happy  time, 
too,  because  Peeps  is  always  happy.  She  plays 
and  dances  among  the  sunbeams,  but  right  at 
that  minute  Peeps  heard  a  little  girl  named 


All  the  little  light  sprites  living  in  the  sky, 
Keep  so  very  busy  as  the  days  go  by, 
All  around  the  heavens  on  a  cloud  they  ride 
Or  sit  upon  a  sunbeam  to  take  a  little  slide. 


Betty  wishing  for  her  to  come  down,  and  she 
heard  a  little  boy  named  John  wishing  for  her 
to  come  down. 

And  because  Betty  and  John  wished  and 
wished  so  hard,  Peeps  decided  to  come  down 
and  play  with  them,  but  of  course  they  couldn't 
play  with  her  unless  they  could  see  her.  And 
Peeps  had  to  get  permission  from  the  Queen 
Fairy  to  allow  herself  to  be  seen,  for  never,  never, 
NEVER  before  had  any  earth  child  seen  Peeps. 

So,  in  order  that  the  children  could  see  her, 
she  had  first  to  get  permission  from  the  Queen 
Fairy  who  sits  on  a  throne  made  all  of  sunshine, 
and  second,  she  had  to  have  a  cloak  and  hood 
on,  because  she  was  quite  as  bright  as  the  sun- 
shine, and  without  a  cloak  and  hood  she  was 
too  bright  for  any  earth  children  to  see. 


So,  after  Betty  and  John  had  wished  and 
wished  and  wished  to  see  her,  Peeps  danced  on 
a  sunbeam  up  to  the  throne  of  the  Queen  Fairy 
herself,  and  she  sang  this  song: 

"I  wish  for  a  cloak,  O  Queen  of  Light 
That  I  may  take  some  sunshine  bright 
Down  to  Betty  and  John  today, 
They  want  to  go  out  and  dance  and  play." 

Then  the  Queen  smiled  and  said : 

"With  pleasure,  dear  Peeps,  I  am  glad  to  say, 
Shall  the  cloak  be  pink,  green,  blue  or  gray?" 

And  then  Peeps  laughed  a  happy  little  laugh 
and  sang: 

"I  would  like  it  of  blue,  and  lined  with  gold 
So  the  sunshine  can  gleam  from  every  fold." 

Now  when  the  Queen  Fairy  heard  that  pretty 
little  song,  she  sent  ten  little  fairies  to  cut  a 
piece  out  of  the  bright  blue  sky. 


Then,  quick  as  a  wink,  the  ten  fairies  came 
back  with  the  piece  of  bright  blue  sky,  and  then, 
quicker  than  a  wink,  the  Queen  turned  that 
piece  of  bright  blue  sky  into  a  cloak  with  a  hood. 

And  then,  what  else  do  you  think  she  did? 
She  lined  the  cloak  and  hood  with  warm,  yellow 
sunshine. 


Here  are  the  ten  happy  fairies,  my  dears, 
Who  cut  out  a  piece  of  the  sky  with  a  shears 
And  before  the  queen,  in  a  coat  all  new, 
Peeps  stands  ready  to  come  to  you. 


Kind  little  Peeps  then  danced  up  and  down 
in  among  the  sunbeams,  for  she  was  now  ready 
to  go  and  play  with  the  earth  children  whom 
she  loved  very  much. 

But  what  do  you  think  Peeps  did  first?  Why 
she  sang  a  little  song  of  thanks  like  this: 

"Thank  you,  dear  Queen,  for  the  cloak  of  blue 
And  the  golden  sunshine  lining,  too, 
So  pretty  it  is  I'd  like  it  for  keeps  .  .  ' 

But  just  then  the  Queen  interrupted  her  and 
sang: 

"Oh,  no,  that  never  would  do,  dear  Peeps, 

For  up  in  the  sky  it  would  leave  a  big  crack 

So  you  must  ask  the  wind  to  please  blow  it  back." 

And  then  the  Fairy  Queen  and  all  the  other 
sunshine  fairies  began  to  sing  in  chorus,  their 
voices  sounding  like  many  tiny,  tinkling  bells  as 
they  echoed  far  up  above  the  clouds. 


"Go  hither  Peeps,  in  cloak  of  blue, 
And  take  the  sunshine  bright  with  you. 
To  drive  the  rain  clouds  far  away, 
For  soon  will  be  the  first  of  May. 

"It's  time  the  birdie  built  her  nest, 
Close  to  the  eaves  for  her  children  to  rest; 
It's  time  for  the  flowers  to  wake  and  spring 
And  gladden  the  world  with  their  blossoming." 

Then  Peeps  put  on  her  little  cloak  and  hood 
made  from  blue  sky,  lined  with  golden  sunshine, 
and  then  she  called  all  the  sunshine  fairies 
together  and  said : 


"I  am  going  down  to  play  with  Betty  and 
John." 

"But  how  are  you  going  to  get  through  those 
big  rain  clouds?"  cried  the  fairies.  "You  know 
there  aren't  any  sunbeams  going  through  for 
you  to  slide  on." 

"Oh,"  said  Peeps,  "we  will  make  a  little 
bridge  over  the  top  of  the  rain  clouds  and  down 
on  each  side,  and  I  will  go  down  on  that." 

"But  what  will  we  make  it  out  of?"  cried  the 
sunshine  fairies.  "There  isn't  anything  here  but 
sunshine  and  rain." 

"We  will  make  it  out  of  that,"  said  Peeps. 
"We  will  get  a  lot  of  sunbeams  and  we  will 
string  raindrops  on  them,  just  like  beads  on  a 
string." 


So  part  of  the  sunshine  fairies  went  out  to 
gather  raindrops  and  the  rest  of  them  gathered 
sunbeams,  and  pretty  soon  they  had  all  the 
raindrops  and  sunbeams  they  needed.  As  they 
passed  the  sunbeams  through  some  of  the  rain- 
drops, they  were  red,  and  some  of  them  were 
orange,  and  some  of  them  yellow,  and  some  of 
them  looked  green,  and  some  of  them  blue,  and 
some  of  them  indigo,  and  some  of  them  were 
a  beautiful  violet. 

And  then  the  sunshine  fairies  laid  the  violet 
sunbeams  down  over  the  rain  clouds  in  a  great 
big  beautiful  arch,  so  that  each  end  of  the  arch 
rested  on  the  earth,  and  on  top  of  the  violet 
sunbeams  they  put  the  indigo  beams,  and  then 
the  blue,  and  then  the  green,  and  then  the  yellow 
and  then  the  orange,  and  on  the  top  of  them  all 
they  put  the  beautiful  red  beams. 


How  Peeps,  the  Sunshine  Fairy  true, 
In  cloak  and  hood  of  gold  and  blue 


Slid  down  the  rainbow,  bright  and  gay, 
To  Betty  and  to  John  that  day. 


"Now,"  said  Peeps,  "I  have  a  nice  rainbow 
to  go  sliding  down  to  earth  on,"  and  she  started 
sliding  the  long,  long  way  down  to  earth,  and 
as  she  was  sliding  and  sliding  and  sliding,  Betty 
and  John  were  wishing  and  wishing  and  wishing 
that  she  would  come. 

And  just  at  the  very  moment  that  they  wished 
the  very  hardest,  it  seemed  to  stop  raining  out- 
side and  the  thunder  rumbled  and  grumbled  and 
growled  away,  away  off  so  they  could  hardly 
hear  it,  and  some  swallows  came  flying  by  crying 
"Pe-e-e-e-e-ps,  Pe-e-e-e-e-e-e-ps !" 

And  then,  when  they  hurried  to  the  window, 
a  whole  lot  of  sparrows  flew  by,  chirping  in 
quick,  happy  voices,  "Peeps,  Peeps,  Peeps." 

And  then  a  great  big  golden  sunbeam  darted 
right  through  the  big  tree  in  the  back  yard,  in 


How  softly,  swiftly,  gently  glide 
The  fairies  on  the  rainbow  slide! 
Just  see  how  gracefully  Peeps  descends 
Among  her  little  happy  friends. 


which  all  the  birds  were  flying  and  crying,  "Peeps, 
Peeps,  Pe-e-e-ps." 

And  just  at  the  very  bottom  of  the  tree 
where  the  sunlight  shone  through  the  leaves, 
Betty  and  John  saw  the  most  beautiful  little 
creature,  and  when  they  rushed  out  into  the 
yard  to  greet  her,  the  sunshine  was  spreading 
around  all  the  houses  and  yards  of  their  neigh- 
bors, and  birds  were  all  chirping,  "Peeps,  Peeps, 
Pe-e-e-e-ps,"  and  Betty  cried  out  all  excitedly: 

"Oh,  who  are  you?" 

And  the  beautiful  little  creature  then  told 

, 
them  who  she  was,   only  she  said   it  in  fairy 

verse: 

"My  name  is  Peeps,  little  girl  and  boy, 
I've  come  to  bring  you  cheer  and  joy, 
With  sunshine  from  the  sky  so  blue 
And  play  some  happy  game  with  you." 


Here's  Peeps  and  John  and  Betty,  too, 
And  little  birds  who  gaily  flew 
To  welcome  Peeps  with  happy  cries 
As  she  descended  from  the  skies. 


"Oh,  isn't  that  nice,"  said  Betty.  'The  rain 
has  kept  us  in  the  house  and  everything  has  been 
so  dull  and  dreary  until  you  came." 

"What  shall  we  play  first?"  asked  Peeps. 

"Oh,  let  us  play  hide  and  seek,"  said  Betty 
and  John. 

So  Betty  and  John  and  Peeps,  the  "really 
truly  sunshine  fairy,"  played  hide  and  seek  all 
over  the  yard.  Everywhere  that  Peeps  went  she 
seemed  to  make  everything  bright  and  cheerful. 
The  shadows  ran  away  from  her  and  all  the 
grass  seemed  to  dry  and  look  greener  and  fresher 
and  the  birds  began  to  sing. 

The  birds  seemed  to  know  her,  too,  for  they 
fluttered  all  around  her  in  happy  little  flocks 
calling  "Peeps,  Peeps,  Pe-e-e-e-ps !" 


"Peeps,  Peeps,  Peeps,"  the  birdies  were  singing, 
As  around  little  Peeps  they  gaily  were  winging, 
And  here  is  how  Peeps  was  seen  that  day 
Before  the  wind  carried  her  blue  cloak  away. 


Well,  Betty  and  John  and  Peeps  played  hide 
and  seek  for  the  longest  time,  and  then  Betty 
and  John  stopped  to  rest. 

"Aren't  you  tired,  Peeps?"  asked  Betty. 

"Oh,  no,"  said  Peeps,  "You  see  I  am  a  sun- 
shine fairy  and,  because  I  am  so  cheerful,  I  never 
get  tired." 

"Oh,  tell  us,  do  you  play  like  this  all  the 
time?"  asked  John. 

"No,"  said  Peeps,  "I  must  work,  too;  I  coax 
the  flowers  out  of  the  ground,  and  paint  all  the 
leaves  and  grass  green,  and  I  put  those  beautiful 
pink  and  red  colors  on  the  apples  and  peaches, 
and  ripen  the  wheat  and  corn,  and  when  the 
earth  is  dry  and  needs  water,  I  carry  water  up 
to  the  clouds  where  it  turns  into  rain  and  goes 
down  and  makes  all  the  trees  and  flowers  and 


living  things  glad.  And  then  I  seek  out  all  the 
dark  places  and  carry  sunshine  and  cheer  into 
them  and  try  very  hard  to  make  everything  and 
everybody  happy." 

And  then  Peeps  pointed  to  the  sky  and  showed 
them  the  beautiful  rainbow. 

"That  also  is  made  of  sunshine,"  said  Peeps, 
"Millions  and  millions  and  millions  of  little 
drops  of  water  and  millions  and  millions  and 
millions  of  little  sunbeams.  And  whenever  you 
see  it,  it  is  a  sign  that  the  rain  is  going  away 
and  that  the  sunshine  is  coming  back,  because 
it  is  a  little  bridge  that  all  the  sunshine  fairies 
slide  back  to  earth  on  after  the  rain." 

And,  as  Peeps  was  talking,  the  rainbow  seemed 
to  fade  away.  First  the  red  disappeared  and 
then  the  orange,  and  then  the  yellow,  and  then 


the  green,  and  then  the  blue  and  then  the  indigo, 
and  finally  the  last  of  the  violet  beams  faded  out. 

"Oh,  it's  all  gone,"  said  John.  "But  look 
how  blue  the  sky  is." 

"Just  like  your  coat,"  said  Betty  to  Peeps. 

"Of  course,"  said  Peeps,  "because  my  cloak 
is  made  of  a  piece  of  the  sky.  If  you  will  look 
very  closely  away  up  there,"  and  Peeps  pointed 
to  the  place,  "you  will  see  a  hole  in  the  sky. 
That  hole  was  left  there  when  my  cloak  was 
cutout." 

"Oh,  sure  enough,"  said  Betty. 

"Why,  I  see  it,  too,"  said  John. 

"And  is  your  dress  made  of  the  blue  sky  too?" 
asked  Betty. 

"Oh,  no.  My  dress  is  all  made  of  sunshine," 
said  Peeps. 


"Oh,  let  us  see  it,"  said  Betty. 

So  Peeps  took  off  her  cloak,  and  as  she  did 
so  a  sudden  gust  of  wind  picked  it  up  and  blew 
it  away  up,  and  up,  and  up  in  the  sky,  and  the 
children  watched  it  go  higher  and  higher  until 
after  the  longest  time  they  saw  it  go  right  up  to 
where  the  hole  in  the  sky  was,  and  the  first  thing 


they  knew  the  hole  was  all  patched  up  and  they 
couldn't  even  see  where  it  was. 

"My  goodness,"  said  Betty.  "What  will  you 
do  without  your  cloak,  Peeps?" 

But  when  she  turned  to  look,  where  do  you 
think  Peeps  was?  Why,  Peeps  was  gone !  But 
the  sunshine  was  everywhere. 

Oh,  my,  how  Betty  and  John  searched  for 
Peeps,  but  they  couldn't  find  her  anywhere.  And 
as  they  were  searching,  they  heard  Mother  calling 
them  to  come  in  for  their  bread  and  milk  and 
honey. 

You  may  be  sure  they  told  Mother  all  about 
Peeps,  and  how  she  -disappeared,  and  when  they 
had  finished,  Mother  said:  "Why  that  was  the 
'really  truly'  sunshine  fairy  Peeps  that  I  was 
telling  you  about.  It  was  she  who  brought  all 
that  sunshine." 


"But  why  can't  we  see  her  now,"  asked  Betty 
and  John. 

"Because,"  said  Mother,  "She  is  quite  as 
bright  as  the  sunshine,  and  when  she  removed 
her  cloak  she  was  too  bright  for  you  to  see,  but 
she  is  with  us  all  the  time,  just  the  same,  although 
we  can't  see  her.  I  wouldn't  be  at  all  surprised 
if  there  are  many  other  sunshine  fairies  just  like 
Peeps,  for  they  are  always  where  the  sun  is 
shining." 

"But,  Mother,  where  do  the  sunshine  fairies 
go  at  night?"  chorused  Betty  and  John. 

"Do  you  know  what  I  think?"  said  Mother 
softly.  "I  think  Peeps  and  all  the  other  little 
sunshine  fairies  carry  wands  with  stars  on  tip 

ends  of  them,  and  when  you  go  out  at  night 
\ 

when  it  is  clear  and  see  all  these  little  stars,  mil- 


lions  and  millions  and  millions  of  them,  every 
one,  perhaps,  is  a  little  sunshine  fairy,  watching 
over  her  children  playmates  so  they  will  sleep 
well  and  have  beautiful  dreams." 

"But,  Mother,  since  we  can't  see  Peeps,  we'd 
love  to  have  a  dolly  to  look  like  her,"  said  Betty. 

"Oh,  that  would  be  wonderful,"  said  John. 

"How  did  she  look?"  Mother  asked. 

"She  had  the  brightest,  bluest  coat,  all  lined 
with  gold,"  said  Betty,  "and  she  had  golden 
curls  with  a  hood  over  them  just  like  her  cloak, 
all  blue  with  gold  inside.  And  she  had  the 
brightest,  bluest  eyes  and  the  reddest,  roundest, 
rosiest  little  cheeks." 

So  Mother  made  a  dolly  just  like  that,  and 
you  can  imagine  that  Betty  and  John  were  very 
happy  with  their  Peeps  dolly. 


And  ever  after  when  they  went  to  see  their 
grandmother  or  a  little  friend  who  was  ill,  (they 
always  took  their  little  Peeps  dollyalong  to  help 
them  spread  sunshine  and  happiness. 


Start  a  "Sunny  Book"  Shelf 
for  Your  Child  Today 

Here  are  some  of  the  titles  of  the  Volland 
"Sunny  Books": 

SUNNY  RHYMES  FOR  HAPPY  CHILDREN 

Olive  Beaupre  Miller 

JUST  FOR  YOU  Pauline  Croll 

TALES  OF  LITTLE  CATS  Carrie  Jacobs  Bond 
THE  LITTLE  RED  BALLOON  Caroline  Hofman 
THE  WISE  GRAY  CAT  Caroline  Hofman 

THE  PRINCESS  FINDS  A  PLAYMATE 

Caroline  Hofman 

THE  FUNNY  LITTLE  BOOK  Johnny  Gruelle 
PEEPS  Nancy  Cox-McCormack 

Additional  titles  are  in  preparation. 


P.   F.  VOLLAND   COMPANY 

Makers  of  Books  Good  for  Children 

NEW  YORK      CHICAGO      TORONTO 


A    000  085  590    8 


<;ni  iTuCo  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 
Return  this  material  to  the  library 
from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


RFW 


26 


OCT  0  5  1990 


VOLLA/ND 

"SUAJAjy(|pJ  BOOK" 

SERIES 


